Support for Novell Directory Services (NDS) as an authentication method and as an external naming method are no longer supported. If you are using NDS as an external naming method, Oracle Corporation recommends using directory naming instead.

Net8 OPEN

Net8 OPEN, which provided an application program interface (API) that enabled programmers to develop both database and non-database applications, is no longer supported.

protocol.ora File

Parameters in the protocol.ora file have been merged into the sqlnet.ora file. These parameters enable you to configure access control to the database, as well as no delays in TCP/IP buffer flushing. These parameters include:

If you have a protocol.ora file in $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin on UNIX and ORACLE_HOME\network\admin on Windows, Oracle Net Manager, when first started, will automatically merge its parameters into the sqlnet.ora file.

There may be operating system specific parameters in protocol.ora that are node specific. For this reason, Oracle Corporation recommends not sharing sqlnet.ora with other nodes after merging or adding these parameters.

Connect descriptors that are currently configured with the SID parameter can remain. However, to take advantage of new features, such as client load balancing and connect-time failover, Oracle Corporation recommends replacing SID with SERVICE_NAME.

Consider the following questions for an environment with release 8.0 clients connecting to an Oracle9i database:

Will my third-party applications be able use features of Oracle Net Services?

No. You must rebuild or upgrade applications to work with Oracle Net libraries.

Do my clients require Oracle Net to connect to a remote Oracle9i database?

No. If a client needs to connect to a remote Oracle9i database, only Net8 Client release 8.0 needs to be configured on the client. However, new features of Oracle Net Services are not available to these clients.

Do my clients require Oracle Net to connect to a local Oracle9i database?

No. The client requires an installation of Net8 Client release 8.0 in its Oracle home and the Oracle9i requires an installation of Oracle Net and Oracle Net Listener in its Oracle home.

Oracle8 or Oracle7 Database Connections

A connect descriptor to an Oracle release 8.0 or Oracle7 database uses SID, as shown in the following example:

In addition, the listener.ora file on the database server must be configured with the description of the SID for the release 8.0 database. In the following example, the listener is configured to listener for a database service called sales.us.acme.com that has a SID of sales:

No. If a client needs to connect to a remote release 8.0 database, only Net8 Client of a compatible release needs to be configured on the client. The only limitation is that the new features available with Oracle Net Services are unavailable with this connection type.

Do my clients require Net8 Client release 8.0 to connect to a local release 8.0 database?

Yes. The client requires an installation of Oracle Net in its Oracle home and the release 8.0 database requires an installation of Net8 Server in its Oracle home.

Oracle Names

If you upgrade all or part of your network to Oracle9i, you should upgrade all the Oracle Names Servers in the region to version 9.

Can my release 8.0 clients use Oracle Names version 9 to resolve service names?

Yes.

Can my release 8.0 clients then use the connect descriptor returned from Oracle Names version 9 to connect to an Oracle version 8 database?

Yes, if the connect descriptor was specified correctly when it was entered into Oracle Names.

Note:

In future releases, Oracle Names will not be supported as a centralized naming method. Because no new enhancements are being added to Oracle Names, consider using directory naming or upgrading an existing Oracle Names configuration to directory naming, as described in the Oracle Net Services Administrator's Guide.

Using the Oracle Net Manager to Handle Compatibility Issues

Because some parameters are enabled only for Oracle9i and release 8.1, Oracle Net Manager offers two options that permit you to set the proper parameters in the tnsnames.ora file for clients connecting to a particular release of the database. These options are described in Table B-1.

Enables you to configure parameters specific to a database release in the CONNECT_DATA section of a connect descriptor.

If turned on, allows you to enter the SID of the release 8.0 or Oracle7 database.

If turned off, enables you to enter the Oracle9i or Oracle8i database service name (SERVICE_NAME).

Note: The Advanced Service Options dialog box, which is visible when the Advanced button in the Service Identification group is chosen, is also affected by whether this option is turned on or off. Some settings are only available for connections to an Oracle9i or Oracle8i database service.

Step 1: Verify Service Name and Instance Name

If you want to identify a service and its instance in the tnsnames.ora file, ensure that the SERVICE_NAMES and INSTANCE_NAMES initialization parameters are set in the initialization parameter file.

Table B-2 Initialization Parameters for Oracle Net Services

Parameter

Description

SERVICE_NAMES

Specifies one or more names for the database service to which this instance connects. You can specify multiple services names in order to distinguish among different uses of the same database. For example:

SERVICE_NAMES = sales.us.acme.com, widgetsales.us.acme.com

If you do not qualify the names in this parameter with a domain, Oracle qualifies them with the value of the DB_DOMAIN parameter. If DB_DOMAIN is not specified, Oracle uses the domain of your local database as it currently exists in the data dictionary.

Note: You can change the value of SERVICE_NAMES parameter dynamically with the SQL ALTER SYSTEM when the database is running. See the Oracle Database Reference for further information about this parameter

INSTANCE_NAME

Specifies the unique name of this instance. Set the instance name to the value of the Oracle System Identifier (SID).

Step 2: Perform Software Upgrade on the Database Server

To perform a software upgrade on the database server, install the latest release of Oracle Net and Oracle Net Listener from the Oracle Universal Installer to receive the latest executables.

You are prompted to upgrade a database with the Database Upgrade Assistant if the Oracle Universal Installer detects a pre-release 9.2 database on your system. If you do not want to upgrade during the installation process, then you can choose to install this assistant and use it later.

The Oracle Universal Installer automatically performs these tasks:

Stops older listener

Starts release 9.2 listener

Step 3: Perform Software Upgrade on the Client

To perform a software upgrade on the client, install the latest release of Oracle Net Services from the Oracle Universal Installer to receive the latest executables.

Step 4: Perform Functional Upgrade

After the software is upgraded, it is not required to upgrade the configuration files unless you want to use the Oracle9i features. To take advantage of new features, review the following configuration files:

listener.ora

Because instance information is registered with the listener in Oracle9i, it is no longer necessary to include the instance information with the SID_LIST_listener_name section of the listener.ora file.

However, Oracle Enterprise Manager still requires static information in the listener.ora file. If you are using Oracle Enterprise Manager to manage database objects, the listener.ora file must be configured with information about the database in the following manner:

The Oracle System Identifier (SID) identifies the instance. You can obtain the SID value from the INSTANCE_NAME parameter in the initialization parameter file.

GLOBAL_DBNAME

The global database name is comprised of the database name and database domain name. You can obtain the GLOBAL_DBNAME value from the SERVICE_NAMES parameter, or from the DB_NAME and DB_DOMAIN parameters in the initialization parameter file.

ORACLE_HOME

Identifies the Oracle home location of the database that you are specifying

Note: This setting is required on UNIX.

Important:

If you are using connect-time failover or Transparent Application Failover, such as in a Real Application Clusters environment, Oracle Corporation recommends not setting the GLOBAL_DBNAME parameter.